Peoria County, IL Property Records: Search Deeds, Owners, Tax Records, and Maps

At least 72,000 parcels make up property records managed by designated agencies in Peoria County, Illinois. Local housing demand is largely driven by education, professional, and healthcare services. The Peoria County property records system is maintained by the County Clerk, the Supervisor of Assessments, and the Treasurer.

The county's housing stock is concentrated in Peoria (the largest city and county seat), Peoria Heights, Bartonville, Chillicothe, and Princeville. Listings in communities along the Illinois River typically close within 60 to 80 days, similar to other housing markets in Illinois. The local housing stock includes single-family detached homes and apartment buildings.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of {median_home_value} and median rent of {median_rent}, alongside a median household income of {median_household_income} and a median real estate tax rate of {median_real_est_tax} as a percentage of the property's assessed value.

How to Look Up Peoria County Property Records

Peoria County provides two free online tools for property research:

• The Property Tax Inquiry portal allows users to view property characteristics, tax payment status, and payment history.

• The Online Document Searching portal provides access to recorded land records, including deeds, mortgages, liens, and related documents.

To obtain a copy of a deed or another recorded document, contact the County Clerk's Office at (309) 672-6059 or visit the courthouse in downtown Peoria.

Who Keeps Peoria County Property Records?

Illinois property records are managed at the county level. They are accessible under the state's Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). In Peoria County, these three offices keep property records:

• The Supervisor of Assessments appraises all real property in the county, manages exemption applications, and maintains the database that generates the Treasurer's tax bills.

• The County Clerk is the public registry for deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, easements, and similar instruments. Peoria County eliminated the separately elected Recorder of Deeds Office after voters approved a referendum allowing its duties to be merged into the County Clerk’s Office.

• The County Treasurer bills property taxes each May, processes payments, conducts the annual tax sale for delinquencies, and oversees owner redemptions after a sale.

How to Search Peoria County Property Records Online

The steps below outline how to search Peoria County property records online:

• Open the Property Tax Inquiry portal. The search interface accepts address, owner name, and PIN as entry points. Results include the registered owner, equalized assessed value, sales history, and any exemptions currently in place.

• Pull the tax bill from the Peoria County Treasurer. The portal lists current and prior-year amounts, payment history, taxing-district splits, and flags any delinquency or pending refund.

• To pull deeds, mortgages, liens, or other recorded documents, use the County Clerk’s Online Document Searching portal. This allows you to search by grantor, grantee, document number, PIN, or recorded date. Free index search is usually available while full document images may require Tapestry pay-per-search or a Laredo subscription.

• Once you have the most recent deed, work backward through the chain of title. On each prior deed, the grantor should match the grantee on the one before. Any gap is a red flag that warrants a professional title search.

• Mapping work goes through the county GIS portal. Parcel boundaries, zoning, and floodplains layer onto a single interactive map alongside recent aerial imagery.

Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

Property valuation in Peoria County is handled by the Supervisor of Assessments. The office tracks every parcel's owner, characteristics, equalized assessed value, exemption status, and recent sale activity.

County Clerk: Deeds, Mortgages, and Liens

Recorded documents in Peoria County are maintained by the County Clerk. The office handles the formal recording, maintains the searchable index, and produces certified copies upon request.

Treasurer: Tax Bills and Payments

The Peoria County Treasurer mails the tax bills, processes payments, runs the annual tax sale, and handles tax-deed redemption. It keeps records of current bills, payment history, and delinquency status.

Property Tax in Peoria County: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

Peoria County's property tax bill is determined by the Illinois Property Tax Code.

• Fair market value × 33.33% assessment ratio × state equalization factor − exemptions = Equalized assessed value

• Equalized assessed value × combined tax rate = Bill

Homestead exemptions

Peoria County offers eligible homeowners several statutory exemptions. Here are the major ones:

• General Homestead Exemption: Up to $6,000 EAV reduction for owner-occupied homes (35 ILCS 200/15-175). Peoria County uses the baseline tier (applicable in most Illinois counties) under the three-tier statutory structure.

• Senior Homestead Exemption: Up to $5,000 EAV reduction for owners 65 and older under 35 ILCS 200/15-170.

• Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze: Freezes assessed value at a base year for seniors with household income at or below $75,000 (indexed to CPI from 2026).

• Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead: Tiered by VA disability rating. Offers $2,500 EAV at 30-49%, $5,000 at 50-69%, and full exemption at 70%+.

• Persons with Disabilities and Home Improvement: $2,000 EAV reduction for permanent disability and separate four-year exemption shielding up to $75,000 of improvement value.

Appealing an assessment

Appeals go through a two-stage process in Peoria County. First, file the appeal with the Board of Review within 30 days of receiving the assessment notice. If the Board rules against you, file with PTAB within 30 days of the Board's final decision.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

Parcel mapping in Peoria County runs through the county GIS portal. Beyond parcel boundaries, the GIS includes zoning, school districts, voting precincts, floodplains, and historical aerial imagery from multiple dates.

• County GIS portal: The county's web GIS layers parcels, zoning, and floodplains with recent aerial imagery for Peoria County.

• Illinois Geological Survey clearinghouse: The state-level ISGS clearinghouse hosts statewide layers including soil, hydrology, and DEM data.

Foreclosure and the Annual Tax Sale

Judicial mortgage foreclosures are executed through the Peoria County Circuit Court, under 735 ILCS 5/15-1101 et seq.. A separate annual tax sale handles unpaid property taxes, under 35 ILCS 200, Article 21. The two processes work differently and produce different rights.

Annual tax sale

The Treasurer conducts an annual tax sale for delinquent properties. Bidding starts at the statutory 9% penalty rate, and tax buyers compete by bidding the rate downward. Successful bidders receive tax certificates, not property deeds.

Right of redemption

Property owners have 2 to 2.5 years to redeem after the tax sale, under 35 ILCS 200/21-345. Redemption requires paying the original taxes, the penalty interest at the bid rate (compounded every six months), tax-buyer costs, and any subsequent taxes the buyer paid.

Scavenger sales

Properties that remain tax delinquent for more than three years and do not sell at the annual tax sale may be offered at the biennial scavenger sale. Unlike the annual sale, bidding is based on dollar amounts rather than interest rates.

Costs to Access Property Records

Peoria County's online search portals offer free property records lookups. The county charges fees only when you need a copy of a recorded document, request a certified copy, or file a new document for recording. Illinois sets a predictable fee schedule for new recordings under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2.

Peoria County adopted the Illinois Predictable Fee Schedule under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2. The schedule replaces per-page fees with a flat fee per document class. Five classes exist, namely deeds, mortgages, leases, miscellaneous, and non-conforming. Non-conforming documents pay double. Property transfers in Peoria County incur transfer taxes alongside recording costs. Illinois imposes a tax of $0.50 per $500 of consideration, and the county adds $0.25 per $500.

How to Record a Document

In most real estate transactions, the title company records documents on the homeowner's behalf at closing. If you are filing a quitclaim deed, mortgage release, or personal lien with the Peoria County Recorder's office, take these steps:

• Start with formatting compliance. State statute (55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2) requires 8.5x11 white paper, 20-lb minimum weight, black ink, half-inch margins, and a 3x5 blank space in the first page's upper-right corner for the recording certificate.

• Pull the fee from Peoria County's Predictable Fee Schedule. The flat per-document-class fees replace the old per-page system.

• File the PTAX-203 real-estate transfer declaration through Illinois MyDec at the same time you file the deed. Almost every property transfer requires this declaration, including exempt transfers. The MyDec filing accompanies the recording packet.

• Submit through one of three channels: Visit 324 Main St., Room 101, Peoria, IL 61602, mail-in with payment and return envelope, or e-recording through Simplifile, CSC, or another approved vendor. Most filings are recorded within a few business days.

The County Clerk assigns a permanent document number at filing. Keep this number with the original, it's the fastest lookup key for any future certified copy request or title research.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Peoria County Property Records Checklist

This checklist maps the seven most common Peoria County property-records tasks to the office that handles them and the portal that fulfills them.

Key Contacts and Official Portals